Bad-loan trend reflects asset quality: FSC

By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The nation’s banks had an average bad-loan ratio of 0.38 percent at the end of December last year, down from 0.41 percent a month earlier, signifying continued improvement in asset quality, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said in a statement released yesterday.

The figures translated into overall bad loans worth NT$89.9 billion (US$2.95 billion) at the end of December last year, down NT$6.6 billion from a month earlier, the statement said.

Each of the 39 domestic lenders kept a bad-loan ratio of less than 2 percent, the statement said, adding that the regulator will urge banks with above-average ratios of bad loans to improve their asset quality and financial structure.